Newsletter

Don't spread untruths on Catholicism

The Rev. Paul Cook has, in less than two weeks, attacked Catholicism on two separate occasions. The first attack was in his guest column of July 23 ("Only way to heaven is spelled out in Bible"), and the second in his letter of July 30 ("The truth, whole truth, and nothing but"). The Rev. Cook either is purposely trying to spread falsehoods about the Catholic Church, or he is not as educated as he may think.

The Rev. Cook quotes Scripture, telling us to be aware of false prophets. He then warns us about false religions. The Baptist faith came into being during the 17th century, at a time when the Catholic Church was already on its 236th pope. I would ask the Rev. Cook to produce any written proof of official church teaching that states faith in the pope or the Virgin Mary are the way to life everlasting.

He also misspeaks on the subject of faith and works. I refer him to James 2:14-26, and Matthew 25:31-46. Christian works are an important part of faith, as shown in Scripture. He states that as a Christian he does not have the option to "pick and choose" which parts of the Bible he will believe.

On baptism, John 3:5 states "no one can enter the kingdom of GOD without being born of water and spirit." Titus 3:5 says "we are saved by the bath of rebirth." Both refer to baptism and are only two of several instances in Scripture that refer to the importance of baptism in relation to salvation. Both disagree with the Rev. Cook's position.

Lastly the Rev. Cook quotes Matthew, warning us about false prophets telling us lies and trying to deceive us. That is the only statement in his writings that we both agree on.